Turbo-blower cooling means



June 25, 1957 w. L. MORRISON TURBO-BLOWER COOLING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1953 Inventor,

lard L. Morrison MvQ/IZZ Horneys TURBO-BLOWER COOLING MEANS Willard L. Morrison, Lake Forest, 111., assignor to The Un on Stock Yard and Transit Company of Chicago, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 10, 1953, Serial No. 360,670

14 Claims. (Cl. 62-136) My invention relates to improvements in turbo-blowers and has for one object to provide a free-running independent turbo-blower combination wherein air is compressed by a blower wheeLis cooled after compression and thereafter allowed to expand and do work with resultant further cooling of the air.

The particular apparatus embodying this invention is especially well adapted for use in connection with household refrigerators of the type wherein cold air is caused to circulate through the refrigeration chamber under circumstances such that the air will always be saturated or super-saturated and the relative humidity will never be less than 100 percent.

Under ordinary circumstances more power will be required to compress the air and pass it through the system than is developed by the air as it expands and does work in the turbine end of the system. I have not illustrated the means for providing such additional power as they form no part of the present invention and many ditferent means may be used depending on other design circumstances. Neither have I illustrated the particular arrangement of refrigerating chamber, circulating ducts and circulation control means as they also form no part of the present invention.

The refrigerating mechanism which cools the air between its compression and expansion is, except for the particular parts in contact with the air, shown only diagrammatically because many types of refrigerating means could well be used. 7

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a longitudinal section through the turbocompressor combination.

Figure 2 is a section along the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section similar to the section of Figure 1 showing a slightly modified form of cooling chamber.

Like parts are illustrated by like figures in all drawmgs.

A relatively flat cylindrical housing is formed by annular plates 1 and 2 and cylindrical ring wall 3. These annular plates are centrally apertured, the apertures being surrounded by an intake funnel 4 and a discharge funnel 5. Guide plates 6 and 7 of lesser outer diameter than the plates 1 and 2 are supported in the housing by a plurality of through bolts or pins 8 and carry between them a hub 9 which completely closes the inner apertures of the annular plates 6 and 7. Ball bearings 10 in the hub '9 support the turbo-blower shaft 11 which carries at'the intake end an impeller 12 and at its discharge end an impeller 13. Each impeller carries blades 14.

Carried by the through'bolts 8 and the annular ring 3 i's'an annular guide plate 15, the outer diameter of which is such that it is in contact throughout its entire periphery with the cylinder 3. The inner diameter of the plate'is' such that there is a substantial clearance between it and the hub 9 thus a tortuous passage is defined through the cylinder between the intake funnel or nozzle 4 and hired States Patent G ice the discharge funnel or nozzle 5 through the two impellers 12 and 13. This tortuous passage serves as a cooling chamber to cool the air drawn in through the intake nozzle 4 by the impeller 12 and compressed thereby and raised in temperature. This heat is dissipated in the cooling chamber and the compressed cooled air is expanded through the impeller or turbine wheel 13 for discharge through the funnel or nozzle 5.

Two methods of cooling the air as it passes through the cooling chamber are disclosed as hereinafter appear.

The air discharged radially, centrifugally by the impeller 12 has imparted to it both a radial and a tangential component so that it will under pressure pass outwardly toward the cylindrical wall 3, at the same time having a movement about the axis of the shaft. This movement continues as the air passes inwardly around the outer periphery of the plate 6 and then outwardly of the inner periphery of the plate 15 to finally be discharged through and expanded in the impeller 13. The direction of flow of the air discharged to and expanded in the turbine 13 is under the control of a plurality of radially disposed guide vanes 16 pivotally supported between the plates 2 and 7 on pivot pins 17. Under ordinary circumstances adjustment of the position of the plates will be made once and for all when the apparatus is erected and these veins may be frictionally or positively held in position by any suitable means.

In the device shown in Figures 1 and 2 the cooling means takes the form of a coiled pipe. The pipe enters the housing at 18, extends spirally between the plates 6 and 15 as at 19 through an angle of 360 where it passes through the annular aperture in the plate 15 and extends spirally through an angle of 360 as indicated at 20 between the plates 7 and 15 and leaves the housing at 21.

The means for circulating through the pipes 18, 19, 20 and 21 a cold eutectic or if desired a refrigerant, in which case the pipe would be the evaporator, forms no part of the present invention and is not illustrated. It suffices to say that the spiral arrangement of the pipe system, the pipes extending clear across the space between the plates 6 and 15 and 15 and 7 respectively, assists in guiding the air along a spiral path thus preventing excessive eddy currents and the fact that there is close, intimate contact between the pipes and the plates and the plates being good conductors, means that the plates themselves are cooled to promote heat exchange with the moving air.

In the modified form shown in Figure 4 the heat exchange coil is omitted but the housing 22 encircles the turbo-blower housing providing a space between the outer walls of the turbo-blower housing and the outer housing for passage of cold refrigerant or eutectic to cool the air as it passes from the compressor impeller to the turbine expander impeller.

Disregarding the fact that additional means are required to compensate for the fact that the power generated by the turbine as the air expands is not enough to insure operation of the compressor impeller and such other means form no part of the present invention. It will be understood that as the two impellers rotate in unison and as a coolant is circulated through the cooling coil of the preferred form air is drawn in through the intake funnel, compressed by the compressor impeller, discharged radially and then caused to flow first centrifugally then centripetally, then centrifugally and again centripetally between the guide and cooling plates and then is guided by the adjustable vane 16 for discharge to, expansion in and discharge from the turbine impeller. During such travel the pressures of the coiled cooling pipe between the guide plates insures a travel of the air along a spiral path thereby greatly increasing the length of its circuitous travel and so exposing the compressed and heated air to a sufficiently long exposure to the cooling surfaces of pipe and 3 annular plates to insure adequate cooling before expansion through the turbine wheel.

Such a device if used with saturated air at temperatures adjacent the freezing point of water, will when the air is compressed and heated, discharge into the cooling chamber air which because of the rise in temperature is no longer saturated, but as the air travels through the system, if the temperature is lowered far enough as it well can be, it will again be saturated air. When that saturated air expands through the turbine with substantial decrease in temperature and pressure, since there is no change in total moisture con-tent in the system, super-saturated air will be discharged from the turbine.

I claim:

I. In. combination a cylindrical housing including spaced, parallel, annular walls, a cylindrical shell joining them, an inlet shroud on one side of the housing, an exhaust shroud on the other, each concentric with and filling the opening through the wall with which it is associated, a hub within the housing between the shrouds, annular guide plates carried by the hub, generally parallel with and spaced from the annular walls, the outer diameters of the plates being less than the inner diameter of the cylindrical shell, an annular guide plate in contact, about its outer periphery with the shell, the inner diameter of the guide plate being greater than the diameter of the hub, a compression impeller associated with one of the shrouds, an expansion impeller associated with the other, a shaft rotatable in the hub, on which the impellers are mounted for rotation in unison about an axis co-extensive with the axis of the hub and the shrouds.

2. In combination a cylindrical housing including spaced, parallel, annular walls, a cylindrical shell joining them, an inlet shroud on one side of the housing, an exhaust shroud on the other, each concentric with and filling the opening through the wall with which it is associated, a hub within the housing between the shrouds, annular guide plates carried by the hub, generally parallel with and spaced from the annular walls, the outer diameters of the plates being less than the inner diameter of the cylindrical shell, an annular guide plate in contact, about its outer periphery with the shell, the inner diameter of the guide plate being greater than the diameter of the hub, a compression impeller associated with one of the shrouds, an expansion impeller associated with the other, a shaft rotatable in the hub, on which the impellers are mounted for rotation in unison about an axis co-extensive with the axis of the hub and the shrouds, the guide plates and the housing walls defining a circuitous passage be tween the impellers, means for cooling the air as it travels along such passage.

3. In combination a cylindrical housing including spaced, parallel, annular walls, a cylindrical shell joining them, an inlet shroud on one side of the housing, an exhaust shroud on the other, each concentric with and filling the opening through the wall with which it is associated, a hub within the housing between the shrouds, annular guide plates carried by the hub, generally parallel with andspaced from the annular walls, the outer diameters of the plates being less than the inner diameter of the cylindrical shell, an annular guide plate in contact, about its outer periphery with the shell, the inner diameter of the guide plate being greater than the diameter of the hub, a compression impeller associated with one of the shrouds, an expansion impeller associated with the other, a shaft rotatable in the hub, on which the impellers are mounted for rotation in unison about an' axis co-extensive with the axis of the hub and the shrouds, a cooling coil between two of the guide plates and closing the space between them to define a circuitous air passage extending away from and toward and wind ing about the axis of the shrouds.

4. In combination a cylindrical housing including spaced, parallel, annular walls, a cylindrical shell joining them, an inlet shroud on one side of the housing an exhaust shroud on the other, each concentric with and filling the opening through the wall with which it is associated, a hub within the housing between the shrouds, annular guide plates carried by the hub, generally parallel with and spaced from the annular walls, the outer diameters of the plates being less than the inner diameter of cylindrical shell, an annular guide plate in contact, about its outer periphery with the shell, the inner diameter of the guide plate being greater than the diameter of the hub, a compression impeller associated with one of the shrouds, an expansion impeller associated with the other, a shaft rotatable in the hub, on which the impellers are mounted .for rotation in unison about an axis co-exensive with the axis of the hub and the shrouds, a cooling coil entering the cylindrical shell, disposed along a spiral line between two of the guide plates, extending through the space between the hub and the annular opening of one of the guide plates and extending outwardly along a spiral line toward and passing out through the periphery of the cylindrical shell. I

5. In combination a cylindrical housing including spaced, parallel, annular walls, a cylindrical shell joining them, an inlet shroud on one side of the housing, an exhaust shroud on the other, each concentric with and filling the opening through the wall with which it is associated, a hub within the housing between the shrouds, annular guide plates carried by the hub, generally parallel with and spaced from the annular walls, the outer diameters of the plates being less than the inner diameter of the cylindrical shell, an annular guide plate in contact, about its outer periphery with the shell, the inner diameter of the guide plate being greater than the diameter of the hub, a compression impeller associated with one of the shrouds, an expansion impeller associated with the other, a shaft rotatable in the hub, on which the impellers are mounted for rotation in unison about an axis co-extensive with the axis of the hub and the shrouds, adjustable means encircling the expander impeller and adapted to guide air along a path inclined to the radius thereof toward the expander impeller.

6. A turbo-compressor for refrigerating means and the like, including a compressor impeller and an expander impeller mounted for rotation in unison, a housing for them, means within the housing entirely outside of the outer periphery of the impellers for guiding the air discharged by the compressor impeller outwardly away from the axis of rotation thereof and for reversing the direction of the air -to guide it inwardly toward said axis for discharge through the expander impeller.

7. A turbo-compressor for refrigerating means and the like, including a compressor impeller and an expander impeller mounted for rotation in unison, a housing for them, means within the housing entirely outside of the outer periphery of the impellers for guiding the air discharged by the compressor impeller outwardly aw-ay from the axis of rotation thereof and for reversing the direction of the air to guide it inwardly toward said axis for discharge through the expander impeller, .means for cooling the air as it travels between the two impellers.

8. A turbo-compressor for refrigerating means and the like, including a compressor impeller and an expander impeller mounted for rotation in unison, a housing for them, means within the housing for guiding the air discharged by the compressor impeller outwardly away from the axis of rotation thereof and for reversing thedirection of the air to guide it inwardly toward said axis for discharge through the expander impeller, means for cooling the air as it travels between the two impellers, means for guiding the air along a spiral path about the axis of rotation of the impellers as it moves from and toward the axis of rotation thereof.

9. A turbo-compressor for refrigerating means and the like, including a compressor impeller and an expander impeller mounted for rotation in unison, a housing for them, means within the housing for guiding the air discharged by the compressor impeller outwardly away from the axis of rotation thereof and for reversing the direction of the air to guide it inwardly toward said axis for discharge through the expander impeller, means for cooling the air as it travels between the two impellers, means for guiding the air along a spiral path about the axis of rotation of the impellers as it moves from and toward the axis of rotation thereof and adjustable means associated with the expander impeller for constraining the flow of air thereto along a generally spiral path.

10. In a turbo-blower a central hub, a shaft mounted for rotation therein, compressor and expander impellers carried by the shaft for rotation in unison and located one on each side of the hub, a generally cylindrical housing enclosing the hub and impellers, intake and exhaust shrouds carried by the housing and associated respectively with the compressor and expander impellers, annular plates within the housing encircling the hub defining a tortuous passage between the impellers, means associated with said plates for constraining gas as it passes through the tortuous passage toward and from the hub to a spiral movement about the hub and means for cooling the gas as it travels along said tortuous passage.

11. A turbo-blower including a compressor impeller, an expander impeller, a shaft upon which they are mounted for rotation in unison, a cylindrical housing enclosing them, the diameter of the housing being greater than its thickness, annular guide plates in the housing between the two impellers defining a tortuous passage adapted to guide gas moving between the impellers along 1 generally radial lines away from and toward the axis of rotation of the impellers and means within the housing adapted to guide gas passing between the impellers along a spiral path as it moves toward and from the axis of rotation of the impellers.

12. A turbo-blower comprising a shaft, two radial impeller wheels mounted thereon for rotation therewith,

a housing enclosing the impellers, bearings for the shaft within the housing, a heat exchange coil contained within the housing arranged in two parallel spirals, the inner ends of the spirals being joined to one another, means including said spirals for guiding air discharged from one impeller along a spiral path first centrifugally and then centripetally.

13. In combination a pair of impellers mounted for rotation with a single shaft, a housing, bearings thereon for said shaft, the housing including a plurality of annular plates arranged side by side concentric with the shaft, some of said plates having larger outer and inner diameters than the other plates, said plates being arranged in the housing in alternation, one impeller being arranged to discharge gas centrifugally between two of the plates, two

of the plates guiding it centripetally for discharge through the other impeller.

14. A turbo-blower comprising two impeller wheels, at single shaft on which they are mounted for rotation in unison, bearings for the shaft, a housing carrying the bearings, a cooling coil contained within the housing, plates encircling the shaft spaced apart to define a tortuous passage to guide the gas flow first centrifugally and then centripetally for discharge from one impeller and supply to the second impeller, means for guiding gases as they travel centrifugally and centripetally along a spiral path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,073,833 De Bothezat Mar. 16, 1937 2,256,198 Hahn Sept. 16, 1941 2,474,410 Aue June 28, 1949 2,477,683 Birmann Aug. 2, 1949 2,524,066 Anderson Oct. 3, 1950 2,527,845 Peterson Oct. 31, 1950 

